AKRON, Ohio — In newly released surveillance video from last week's Jayland Walker protests in Akron, a protester is seen picking up a large rock and throwing it at a business window.
Protesters broke windows at Wally Waffle, Chipotle and Irie Jamaican Kitchen. In the video you see cars going around in circles blocking traffic. Protesters drove and walked the streets in objection to the grand jury clearing eight Akron officers in the shooting death of Jayland Walker.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, April 19, there was also a situation along Copley Road near Grace Avenue where pepper spray was used to disperse the crowd.
Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett addressed the situation in a Facebook video posted on the department's page on Saturday. Note: Portions of the video contain adult language.
“For close to two hours, the nonviolent group traveled on the roadway as it grew in size," Chief Mylett said in the video. "As the crowd of protesters increased, they continued marching in the streets towards the intersection of East Avenue and Copley Road. The protest group included pedestrians and cars. Eventually, eastbound traffic on Copley Road became significantly backed up. Many uninvolved vehicles moved into the turn lane to bypass the traffic jam. Multiple cars began to block all lanes of travel, or in other words curb line to curb line on the roadway. Because of this, more than 75 vehicles remained at a standstill on Copley Road. This could’ve caused a serious, significant issue for our community. Emergency vehicles such as police cars, medic units and firetrucks have got to be able to get through on the roadway. The conditions that were present would’ve prevented emergency vehicles to get to assist people or transporting them to the hospital. As a result of this assembly posing a public safety issue, several Akron police officers and Summit County deputies arrived and attempted to engage the protest group in dialogue to have them clear the roadway. As officers engaged members of the crowd, officers reported individuals were throwing rocks, bricks and bottles containing unknown liquids – and they were throwing them at the officers.”
Chief Mylett said one of the bottles can be seen in the video striking a deputy in the head.
"The officers gave multiple orders for the crowd to disperse before deploying chemical irritants," he said.
Last week, cell phone footage from a protester revealed the use of the chemical irritants caused backlash against their use on protesters. The city of Akron has since agreed to a restraining order blocking deployment of chemical irritants by Akron police.
Attorney Subodh Chandra says the use of this force was unnecessary and that the actions of a few does not justify the use of force against the many. Chandra says the rights of the protesters were being violated.
"What we've seen far too often is officers use misbehavior by one person to attack the whole crowd. And that's not appropriate. I mean there just no reason that anybody's safety should be at risk because officers are angry or because they don't know how to proportionately address the situation."
Chief Mylett went on to say the Walker tragedy "has impacted the entire community."
"Our initial goal last Wednesday was to work with protesters to clear the roadway," Mylett continued. "Few can deny that for close to two hours before the interaction on Copley Road and Grace Avenue, we remained out of the way as the protest first began at South Hawkins Avenue and Diagonal Road and traveled to the area on Copley Road. This was done to support the protest group. Only after this major roadway remained unlawfully blocked did we approach to ask those gathered to comply with the law and clear the roadway. Moving forward, our goal is the same as it’s always been: To work collaboratively with the community while respecting their constitutional right to assemble and protest. You have my commitment that we will work with any community leader or organizer, as we have since my arrival, in order to assist with providing information to enhance safety for all citizens of the community -- including those participating in protests.”
Sergeant Michael Murphy has been assigned to serve as a liaison and point of contact for the Akron Police Department.
“Since the event, we have critically evaluated our performance and we will continue to do so," Mylett said.
Editor's note: This story and headline have been updated to provide additional context.